Sid Meier’s Pirates! is awesome. I’d like to think that everybody knows that, but perhaps there are young people who haven’t been introduced to the game’s swashbuckling shenanigans. This needs to be rectified – and fortunately, 2K Games are on the case!

They’ve just confirmed that a new, motion-sensing remake of the game will be published later this year, exclusively for Wii. It’s currently in development by 2K China, who have taken the original Firaxis Games title and are lovingly restoring and revamping it for its upcoming re-birth!

Fencing, Sid Meier's Pirates! style

In your quest against the evil Marquis de la Montalban, you’ll be able to raid and plunder the 17th century Caribbean, engage in ‘clanging’ sword fights (and hopefully dispatch your opponents), navigate pirate battles on the high seas, and, of course, woo fair maidens with your dancing moves – all through the freshly designed Wii-mote controls.

While I’m sure the purists are quaking in their (pirate) boots over this remake, the man himself has given his blessing: Sid Meier, director of creative development at Firaxis Games explains:

“We are big fans of the Wii and think Pirates! is the perfect game to bring to that platform. We’re sure Wii fans will enjoy the timeless adventure of being a pirate captain on the high seas as much as all of our other fans have!”

If you don’t know what the original Pirates! was all about, you’re missing out. The ability to assemble your own crew, play havoc with local townsfolk, dish out pirate-style justice, undertake daring missions, collect treasure maps and – of course – setting sail in one of 27 customisable ships…

The new Bombardment mini-game

The new Wii version will feature the “traditional mini-games” from the original, including Ship Combat, Sword Fighting, and of course Dancing, as well as two new Wii-exclusive mini-games: Bombardment and Lock Picking. They’ve also thrown in a bunch of character and ship customisation options, so you can tweak your pirate to your heart’s desire!

A good bit of fun for the whole family, the remake of Sid Meier’s Pirates! has already been rated PG by the Australian Classification Board, and it’s quite firmly on my wishlist for 2010 (let’s just hope they don’t mess it up, or there’ll be hell to pay!).